Make your learning visible to the kids
Kids imitate you – whether you mean for them to or not
Look at some of the most loved toys for preschool kids and you’ll appreciate how much kids want to do things just because they see adults do them. Why else would kids be enamored with toy coffee makers, toy lawnmowers, toy kitchen sinks, and even toy irons. Those things aren’t fun activities! If only ironing a stack of shirts was as joyful as a 4-year-old pretend ironing makes it seem!
Here’s the catch. Kids are equal opportunity imitators. They will copy the things you mean to model for them as well as those you think you’re doing out of sight. Yours truly loves to eat ice cream straight out of the tub to unwind after the kids are in bed. Guess who’s simple pleasure has been hijacked? The kids suddenly started asking to eat their ice cream straight from the tub – and it’s quite clear where they learned that.
Copying the grown-ups is a universal kid activity – take advantage of it
Even ‘big kids’ in elementary school who stress their independence from you, still mimic you. Just when you’re resigned that your 10-year-old is going on 30 and needs nothing more from you, they do something to remind you of your influence. Maybe they casually use your catchphrase as if it’s the most natural thing to say. Or they peel a fruit in exactly the convoluted way you invented that one time to entertain them.
This week, we’re sharing some tactical ways to take advantage of this phenomenon to help your kids learn. Well, it may actually help you learn too. The plan is, you’re going to make your learning purposefully visible to the kids. If you’re already a learner, good on you. But if you’re not, get ready to become one.
Let your kids see you don’t know some things too – and how you search for answers
It’s not easy being a kid. Seems like everything is new and you have so much to learn.
The truth is we all have so much to learn whether we are 1 or 101. Highlight something you don’t know and let the kids see you search for answers.
Pick interesting questions and show them that learning is fun. Slightly offbeat, taboo, or bathroom stuff always does the trick. Like, “How much do baby elephants pee in a day?” Questions like that do double duty because it shows kids that anything can be studied. And don’t just ask Alexa. Look on a website, listen to a podcast, look in a book. Make a performance out of checking different sources.
Let the kids see you read
Read anything that you have on hand. Whether it is on a screen or a physical book. (Kudos if you are reading a physical book because it won’t ring and distract you). Whatever you have to read, let the kids see you being content to interact with words and maybe a few illustrations on a page. It may surprise you that showing them that the internet is not just for funny videos may be an insight that hadn’t crossed their mind.
Let the kids hear you learn
This is a misnomer but it’s a cool title. Let the kids observe you listening to educational content and being happy to learn new things – or deepen your understanding of something. It may be a subliminal message that the loudspeaker is not just for jamming to music.
Let the kids see you learn more about something you’re an expert in already
Blow the kids’ minds. You never stop learning! How many times have you heard a kid tell you, ‘But I know that already’. Yeah, show them there’s always more to know. Say you’re the master at BBQ. Make sure your kids know that despite your skills already, you continue to learn all this BBQ related.
Hopefully, you never get that creepy feeling that makes you say ‘Somebody’s watching me’. But know that the kids are watching you. Use it well.
